Quiet is the new loud

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Old rockers don't die, they just lose their hearing. But for
baby boomers and assorted 60-somethings who once believed that
rock'n'roll should be mean, dirty and, above all, loud, help is at
hand: quiet rock.

Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood unveiled the rock
equivalent of a museum audio guide this week at the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

About 100 people stood in polite silence listening to
Fleetwood's band for the day, Eagles of Death Metal, perform two
songs. But instead of blasting out through stacks of Marshall amps,
the sound from the thrashing musicians was tidily channelled to
headsets worn by the audience. The reaction was suitably modest and
decidedly un-rock'n'roll. Some nodded in appreciation, others
merely smiled.

After two songs attempting to prove that quiet is indeed the new
loud, the band plugged into its stack of amplifiers and played
three songs to provide its audience with a more conventional
listening experience. This time the reaction was one more commonly
associated with a rock concert than a recital as people started to
jump around.

Fleetwood, 57, who suffers from partial hearing loss caused by
playing in a rock band, said: "I hope this makes the point that you
can wear ear protection at concerts and still enjoy the
concert."

Would the quiet revolution catch on? "Who's to say? Could you
see 18,000 people someday listening to Pink Floyd on headphones?
Maybe, with a weird magic wand."

It was billed as the world's quietest rock concert, and the
first half of the gig was measured at 62 decibels by the American
Speech-Language-Hearing Association. The second half hit 124
decibels, similar to the noise of a jet engine.

But while organisers were keen to stress that "it's hip to
hear", quiet rock would remove one of the best aspects of rock
music: annoying the neighbours.